Thomas Merton on the Mystical Life and Martin Buber

Study a premier Jewish writer of the 20th century with one of the century’s most important Catholic authors.

This digitally remastered recording is part of Thomas Merton’s spoken word legacy, and it presents his voice at its most spiritually edifying. Originally recorded in February of 1968 at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, Thomas Merton on The Mystical Life and Martin Buber unpacks Buber's resonant Hasidic tales one at a time in a discussion-heavy class setting.

Inviting his audience to compare Buber with St. Bernard, Merton sets the stage to draw compelling connections between different faith traditions. This talk was delivered to Merton’s fellow monks in the last year of his life, when the mystic was at the peak of his intellectual and spiritual powers.

Learn25—through our exclusive partnership with the Merton Legacy Trust and the Thomas Merton Center—is proud to offer a wide selection of archival recordings of Thomas Merton: a Trappist monk, great 20th-century mystic, and beloved author of the 1948 autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain. This talk is one in a series of carefully curated and remastered archival recordings of Thomas Merton—available exclusively from Learn25.